Ladies Night at Arjay's is a party

Filene's Basement has the running of the brides, when mobs of women trample each other with hopes of finding the perfect, discounted wedding dress.

Lara Bricker

Filene's Basement has the running of the brides, when mobs of women trample each other with hopes of finding the perfect, discounted wedding dress.

In Exeter, we have the annual Ladies Night at Arjay Ace Hardware on Lincoln Street. Here, our town's practical Yankee women vie, not for gowns or tiaras, but for a chance to get 25 percent off Carhartt work pants, batteries, power tools, snow shovels or perhaps some holiday decorations.

I got mixed reactions when I put out the call for fellow ladies about town to attend this big night out with me. My friend Audra from book club has gone every year since the time she got her husband a new barbecue grill at a great price, and was thrilled to sign up. Another friend wasn't so sure and questioned whether this was like when your husband gets you a vacuum for Christmas. While my friend Caroline, who was quite proud to go home with a brand new humidifier, initially just wanted to go to watch the show.

And it is quite a show. When else do you see someone directing traffic in the parking lot of a hardware store? While the event does draw shoppers, it also draws people who want to socialize. Some begin before the event with dinner out while others, like my group, made a plan to have cocktails after shopping.

Ladies Night was definitely the place to be seen last Wednesday, though some interlopers of the male persuasion likely tried not to be seen. The first man I spied was former selectman Bill Campbell, who insisted that he was only there to be a gentleman by carrying a basket for his wife. For the record, he was carrying the basket. Next, I saw Ron Goodspeed, who had lost his wife in the crowd, and finally I bumped right into George Washington.

Like I said, you see everyone at Ladies Night. George, or as he is known in present times, Skip Heal, told me he just wore the ensemble in the Exeter Holiday Parade on a float for his business, Northeast Lantern. The float commemorated Washington's trip to the Folsom Tavern.

Oh yes, I told him, there were some boisterous men behind me at the parade who thought the Folsom Tavern on your float was an outhouse. I can still hear them yelling, "It's an outhouse" as the float passed us.

Skip is as much a part of the tradition at Ladies Night as the 25 percent discount. Good friends with Arjay's owner Dan Jackson, Skip comes in a different costume every year. He's been a gorilla with a pink skirt, an elf, Santa, and yes, even a lady. As one veteran Ladies Night attendee remarked, "Skip's at it again."

This year, Skip climbed up on a ladder by the cash registers and started offering a discount on wine bottle stoppers. As it turns out, this was a special he just thought up on the spot. From what I could deduce, this is part of the annual routine. Skip comes up with discounts or giveaways, or even pizza orders, that were not previously part of the plan.

But it's all in the spirit of the event. The next day, Dan Jackson tallies up Skip's "charitable holiday donations" and charges them to Skip's account at the store.

"It's kind of the running joke," Dan told me.

Arjay has been hosting Ladies Night for the past seven years and each year it seems to grow. The big-ticket items usually include Carhartt clothing and power tools.

"It's a lot of fun," Dan said. "Everyone's in a good mood."

They were.

I ran into Barbara Rimkunas, curator for the Exeter Historical Society, who told me that every woman needs her own can of WD-40 and a socket wrench set. This year, Barbara was ecstatic to get a deal on the "most amazing ergonomic snow shovel ever designed," as well as a magnetic knife rack for her bathroom to hold items such as nail clippers, tweezers and moustache scissors. Like I said before, New England women are nothing if not practical.

Local author Felicia Donovan used the night to stock up on safety items as gifts for people, including a fire extinguisher for some new homeowners.

"More importantly, Arjay does so much for this community and it's a nice way to say thank you by shopping locally. You never know who will be there — friends you haven't seen in a while, Santa Claus, even George Washington," Donovan later wrote of the event.

Felicia came prepared to spread good cheer and handed me an extra coupon she printed that gave ladies 50 percent off any one Ace brand item. I didn't find anything to use the coupon on and passed it on to Marcia Comeau, who was thrilled to get half off a new snow shovel for her husband, Brian, apparently just in time for winter's arrival.

As for what I went home with, I don't want to ruin the surprise for Christmas morning. Though I can say there will be no power tools or vacuums under our tree this year.

Lara Bricker is a former staff writer for Seacoast Media Group, the author of two books of non-fiction and an Exeter resident. She can be reached at larabricker@hotmail.com or you can follow her on Facebook at Lara Bricker Author.

Advertise

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
seacoastonline.com ~ 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service